


Repair Work

by ams75



Series: Rip Hunter, Post Cognitive Intrusion [1]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Gen, RipFic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-20
Updated: 2017-03-20
Packaged: 2018-10-08 05:15:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10379304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ams75/pseuds/ams75
Summary: I didn't like the last scene with Rip and Jax in episode 2x13 "Land of the Lost", nor that they didn't really interact in the next episode, 2x14, "Moonshot" so here's a little something I would have enjoyed seeing on screen.





	

It was night on _The Waverider_ and Rip Hunter couldn’t sleep.  Maybe it had been the Scotch he had imbibed earlier, possibly it was the absurdity and atrocity of his recent past.  One moment, he’d been using his ship to prevent a nuclear (‘Atomic!’ Professor Martin Stein’s voice corrected) explosion, the next his ship had barely survived and Gideon had informed him that repairs would take fifteen years.  He had retrieved his piece of the Spear of Destiny and his life had gone to hell.  Mick Rory had been placed in stasis, the rest of the team had been scattered throughout the past and he...  
  
He flinched minutely, pushed back his bedding and sat up.  He dressed quickly in jeans, old shirt and boots as he asked, “Gideon, where are the crew?”  
  
Reassuringly, she answered, “Professor Stein is currently sitting on his bed, reading.  Captain Lance is asleep.  Mr. Rory is in the kitchen, drinking beer.  Doctor Palmer is keeping him company.  Mr. Heywood and Miss Jiwe are --”  
  
“Thank you, Gideon,” Rip said quickly, not wanting to hear what they might be up to together.  He left his room and headed towards the innards of his (not his, a small, dark voice whispered) ship.  “Status of the ship?”  
  
"There has been some major damage sustained to the ship's engine and time drive, Captain," she reported.  "It is imperative to repair both sooner, rather than later."  
  
"All right, Gideon, I'll see what I can do," Rip said, his feet already leading him to the engine room.  "How is the hull holding up?"  
  
"It is 97% structurally sound, Captain."  
  
"Shields?"  
  
"Damaged, Captain."  
  
"Auxiliary power?"  
  
"Operating below optimal level."  
  
"Life support?"  
  
"Operating at 100%, Captain."  
  
By now, Rip had reached the engine room.  A quick glance around located his tools.  He walked over to them then carried them over to his first priority, the engine.  It wasn't as bad as he feared.  Jax had apparently remembered everything Rip had taught him.  Although, there were a few things Rip hadn't taught him yet.  He disconnected one of the power leads and removed the shunt, capping off the circuit.  He moved the connection over to the main board and plugged it in.  There were a few other connections that were more complex than they needed to be.  He moved to the backup system and noticed a cable with a bad terminator and took a spare and a single-blade knife from the toolkit.    
  
He was flat on his back, lying uncomfortably on the rolling board, when his knife slipped and he nicked his forefinger.  "Bloody hell!"  He let the sharp pain flood over him as he did his best to inspect the damage.  He dug into his pocket and found an adhesive bandage.  He wrapped it around the injured finger and wiped away the blood onto his jeans.  He had just decided he needed a screwdriver when he heard footsteps.  Without thinking he called out, "Flathead screwdriver," and stretched out his good hand to take it. He felt the cold metal a few moments later in his palm and curled his fingers around the handle.  
  
"There you go."  
  
He froze.  It was Jax, precisely whom he did _not_ want to see.  Jax had seemed all right when he and Sara had teamed up on their rescue mission, but after returning to the real world, Jax hadn't exactly welcomed him back.  He had noted the lack of a handshake and hadn't pressed it by trying to force one where it clearly wasn't welcome.  Ever since, Jax had rarely crossed his path, almost as if he had been avoiding the former captain.  To be fair, he had been avoiding Jax.  Their last conversation, before he had returned to himself, hadn't exactly been pleasant.  Forcing himself to speak, he said neutrally, "There was a damaged contact pin on an auxiliary line.  I moved some of the conduits back to the main board."  He fell silent as he levered the screwdriver into position and methodically unscrewed the first nut that kept the panel in place.  By the time he had the panel free, he had heard Jax take a few steps away.  A small noise allowed him to deduce that Jax had set to work on the next problem.  
  
Rip thought about trying to explain, trying to force his company on Jax but reached the conclusion it would be best to continue repairing.  
  
Half an hour later, he had mused about several ways to ensure the safety of his ship.  Being brainwashed and turned evil, being stripped of everything that truly made him who he was and leaving intact that which would warp him, had given him pause to reconsider the wisdom of maintaining an override for the ship and Gideon.  At least, an override for him.  Perhaps it was time to truly share his home and ensure the crew he had recruited could reassert control should they lose it to an outside force.  
  
He screwed in the last nut, made sure the panel was secure, then rolled out into the open and stood up quickly.  He strode over to the time drive and stopped quickly as he realized Jax had also completed his own tasks and had had the same thought a second later than himself.  Spinning on his heel, not quite able to look him in the eye, Rip asked, “Perhaps you would like to assist me in assessing any damage to the time drive?”  
  
He spun back to look at the swirling colours of the time drive.  “The last I saw this beauty was after I time scattered you all.  I ensured Mr. Rory would survive the fifteen years of repair by placing him in stasis.  I had Gideon initiate the self repair.  I couldn’t trust that my piece of the Spear of Destiny would be safe so I shut down Gideon and retrieved it.  My last memory of _The Waverider_ before I was... lost... was holding it, and looking into the time drive.  I reached into it... and the next memory I have is of being a film student.”  He brought his fingers up but resisted the urge to try to touch time itself.  He changed the subject.  “Beautiful, isn’t it? All of time, literally at one’s fingertips.”  He turned back to Jax.  “I truly am sorry for what I did.”  He took a breath to continue and was surprised when Jax interrupted him.  
  
“I know that, man.  Sara and I, well, we can testify that your mind just wasn’t right.  All I want to know is, are you all right now?”  
  
Rip dropped his gaze, then looked at Jax.  “I don’t know.”  He tried to laugh, possibly not entirely successfully.  “I do know there is no hatred, animosity remaining towards you, all of you.  I feel as if I’m myself again, but it’s hard to trust one’s own perceptions after... well, that’s in the past.  I don’t expect you to trust me, Jax, not yet anyway.  I hope to earn it back one day.”  
  
“As far as I’m concerned, we’re good.  Just... don’t get brainwashed again, OK?”  
  
“I’ll do my best, Mr. Jackson, I’ll do my best.”  
  
After ascertaining there had been no damage to the time drive, Rip found himself almost being dragged to the galley to enjoy an early breakfast by this rather remarkable young man.  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> This will probably be a short series, I have an idea for another one. If anyone feels inspired, please give me a prompt for a scene that feels like it's missing.
> 
> Thank you for reading. Comments, corrections are welcome. If any typos are noticed, please let me know so I can correct the story.


End file.
